Time Flies like an Arrow
by AjAwkwardsauce
Summary: Emma Swan is an orphan whose only hope for family was promised in the numbers counting down on her wrist. The days and hours that tick away to when she will meet her soul mate. Regina Mills is a single mother dealing with her ten year old son who experiences life disrupting delusions, and she has no time for soul mates. Now they have to learn how to share a son and a soul.
1. Chapter 1

_Tonight is the night, isn't it_? Emma Swan glances at her wrist as the elevator door opens. She scans the busy restaurant as she steps out of the elevator. Waiters and waitresses mill around and people chat in hushed voices in the dim light. She spots the man she is looking for and crosses the floor in the heels that pinch her feet too tight. She looks good as she saunters unevenly across the room and meets up with the man. He looks over her, appraising her and she glances down at her wrist again, glad that the seconds tick by but there are still hours left until she would finally meet _the one_. He stands, places his napkin on the table, steps forward and reaches his hand out with a questioning tilt of his head.

"Emma?" His voice is softer than she expected, and his smile is warmer. She takes his hand and they shake firmly.

"Bryan?" She smiles. "You look relieved." He lets out a sigh and grins.

"Ah, well, it _is_ the internet." He tells her as he pushes her chair in for her. A gentleman. She smirks to herself. "Pictures can be –"

"Fake, outdated, stolen from a Victoria Secret Catalog." Emma supplies with a chuckle. "So…" She smiles awkwardly, she wants to play up the act as much as she can.

"So, uh, tell me more about yourself, Emma." He says, aiming to ease her nerves.

"Oh, uh, well, today's my birthday." She tells him honestly.

"And you're spending it with me? What about your friends?" He leans forward.

"Kind of a loner." She supplies pressing her fingertips against the ever counting down numbers on the skin of her wrist, under the table.

"You don't like your family?" He asks.

"No family to like." Emma tilts her head.

"Oh, come on, everyone has family."

"Technically, yeah," she agrees, "and everyone knows who they are." She stares at him with a blankly worried expression, like she expects him to bolt.

"Ready to run yet?" She asks seriously.

"Not a chance," he smirks, "you, Emma, are by far, the sexiest friendless orphan that I have ever met." He chortles. She laughs along even though not an inch of her finds it funny.

"Okay," her voice goes up in pitch at the end as she tries to conceal her true feelings, "your turn," she starts waving her hands in excitement, "no, wait, let me guess! Uhm," she looks over him, "you are handsome, charming,"

"Go on."

"The kind of guy who, uh, now stop me if I get this wrong," she says suddenly serious, "embezzled from your employer, got arrested and skipped town before they were able to throw your ass in jail." He grins at her, as if he's missing out on her inside joke.

"What?"

"And the worst part of all this, is your wife; your wife loves you so much that she bailed you out and how do you repay that loyalty? You're on a date." She finishes. He wouldn't meet her eye.

"Who are you?" He asks angrily, the vein in his temple throbbing.

"The chick who put up the rest of the money."

"You're a bail bondsman."

"Bail bondsperson." She corrects. He sneers down at the table before suddenly throwing it up against her and spilling the drinks and plates and silverware all over her and the ground. She jumps out of her seat and he runs off in the direction of the stairs.

"Really?" Emma groans. She follows him down and crosses the street, ignoring the cars that come towards her. She watches proudly as the stupid man gets in his car, starts it and tries to drive away only to open his door and find his back tire booted. She marches across the wet pavement, car horns beeping at her in protest, heels and toes aching in pain and smiles at him as he looks up at her pleadingly.

"You don't have to do this." He tells her, as if she wants to do anything else. "I can pay you, I've got money." He says. She shakes her head.

"No you don't. And if you did, you should give it to your wife and take care of your family." She is incredulous. The scum she handles would never cease to astound her in all the worse ways."

"What the hell do you know about family, huh?" He asks. A white hot rage, a fury so wild it clouds her vision, overcame her and she stomps forward and slams his head against the steering wheel of his car. She stares at the stunned man.

"Nothing." She says to no one.

She enters her dark and lonely apartment with a white take out bag in her arms containing a single cupcake. After closing the door, she immediately kicks off her heels and leans on the wall. The numbers on her wrist continues to count down, as if mocking her, she isn't going out again tonight. She's going too light her candle, blow it out and make a wish like she does every year. Not to be alone. She stares at the flame on the blue star candle in her tiny cupcake.

"Another banner year." She mumbles, chin resting on her folded arms, she closes her eyes tight and blew out the candle. _Not to be alone_. The doorbell rings and her eyes snap open in surprise. She checks the numbers, still several hours are left. She walks over to the door and yanks it open, lowering her gaze to the boy who occupies the rug in front of her apartment, she hesitates.

"Uh, can I help you?" Her hand comes to rest on the door jam.

"Are you Emma Swan?" He asks. He's maybe nine or ten. He is well dressed and his hair is neatly combed.

"Yeah?" She furrows her brows. "Who are you?"

"My name's Henry. I'm your son." He smiles hopefully and bounces up on his toes briefly. Emma stares at him blankly. He smiles again and ducks under her arm.

"Whoa, hey, kid, kid," he continues into her apartment, "kid!" She cries uncertainly. Whoever raised him needed to have a long talk with him about boundaries and talking to strangers and a whole slew of personal safety subjects. She closes the door and follows him.

"I don't have a son." She enlightens. "Where are your parents?" He turns and looks at her.

"Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?" He asks. She just stares. _God, yes, she did_.

"That was me." He says. She thinks she might throw up, or pass out.

"Give me a minute." She turns and leaves, heading to her bathroom. After slamming the door shut she breathes in and out for several minutes, letting the thoughts circle her head faster and faster until:

"_Hey, do you have any juice_?" His voice filters through the door. This kid. This Henry. "Never mind, found some!" He calls. _This is supposed to be the best night of her life and it is very quickly spiraling into one of the worst_. She opens the bathroom door and comes out to find him sitting at her counter gulping down the juice she had in her fridge. _Straight from the container, just like she did_.

"You know, we should probably get going." He smiles at her like she's his savior and she approaches him like he is a dangerous weapon. She crosses her arms over her chest.

"Going where?" She doesn't have any plans of going anywhere with the kid, she wants him gone and out of her life as fast as he can be thrown out of it. _She has someone to meet after all. A very important someone._

"I want you to come home with me." He says hopefully. He is so hopeful and his smile is the same as hers. She's horrified.

"Okay, kid, that's it, I'm calling the cops." Emma says walking across her apartment to the phone.

"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me." Henry says as she picks up the phone. She sighs and clicks _end_ on the phone.

"And' they'll believe you because I'm your birthmother." She frowns.

"Yep." He is all serious.

"You're not gonna do that." She works with liars and swindlers and hustlers for a living, she can call a bluff when she sees one.

"Try me." He has a stone cold poker face for a ten year old. She smirks.

"You're pretty good, but here's the thing, there's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill, it's called a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying, and you kid, _are_." She starts dialing.

"Wait, please don't call the cops, please." He begs. She hesitates and looks at him. "Come home with me." He invites again.

"Where's home?" She wonders.

"Storybrooke, Maine." He answers and she doesn't believe it.

"Storybrooke, seriously?" He hums in affirmation.

"Alrighty then, let's get you back to Storybrooke." She heads to her room and he slides down from the barstool and starts following her.

"Nuh uh, I'm gonna change, and you're gonna put my juice back in the fridge." She tells him.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

They have been driving for only a short while, she can feel whenever the kid in her passenger seat turns and looks at her. Finally she glances at him, he twists away.

"I'm hungry, wanna stop somewhere?" Henry asks.

"This isn't a road trip, we're not stopping for snacks." Emma tells him. _That's right, no nonsense, he has to be reprimanded for what he's done tonight, but it isn't her responsibility to do that_.

"Why not?" He asks, not understanding.

"Quit complaining kid, remember, I could've put your butt on a bus, still could." That thought seems to be sweeter and sweeter the more the kid beside her chatted on.

"You know, I have a name, it's Henry." He says. She glances at him again. A large book sits open in his lap.

"What's that?" She wonders.

"I'm not sure you're ready." He sounds like he has some big responsibility on his shoulders. She wants to laugh, but senses it would make him close off.

"Ready for some fairy tales?"

"They're not fairy tales." He snaps in the way only a ten year old can. "They're true, every story in this book actually happened." He says angrily, as if his anger was the only way ot make her see clearly.

"Of course it did." She turns back to the road. _Great, she has a crazy ten year old sitting in her car_.

"Use your superpower, see if I'm lying." He begs, still angry. She turns and looks at him. He isn't. _Damn_.

"Just because you believe something, doesn't make it true."

"That's exactly what makes it true; you should know that more than anyone." He says.

"Why's that?" She turns to face him. The small space in her car seems to get smaller.

"Cause you're in this book." He says.

"Oh, kid, you've got problems." She sighs. She can't hold it in anymore.

"Yep, and you're gonna fix them." His voice sounds so sure and she wants to tell him she can't fix anything.

As they pass the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign, Emma feels relief spread through her. The town is small, and asleep, which doesn't surprise her, it is nearly eleven.

"Okay, kid, how about an address?" She prompts as she is driving around.

"44 Not telling you street." He answers. She slams on the breaks and her car skids to a stop. She throws her door open, gets out and slams it shut. Sparks shower from the powerline above her. _God, she is so furious, all she wants to do is meet the person of her dreams, her soul mate, and this kid had to come and ruin everything. _

"Look, it's been a long night," she says angrily as he gets out of her car too, "it's almost," she glances up at the clock tower, "eight fifteen?" That can't be right, it was eight fifteen when she got home earlier.

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life." Henry says. "Time's frozen here." He explains. Emma looks at her wrist. _Less than an hour, holy shit, that means her soulmate is in the town. _She looks wide-eyed at the kid. She wants to tell him that just because the clock stopped working didn't mean that time was frozen.

"Excuse me?" She folds her arms across her chest. Pressing her wrist against herself.

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse, she sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here."

"An evil queen, sent a bunch of fairy tale characters, _here_?" She clarifies.

"Yeah, and now they're trapped." He nods.

"Frozen in time and stuck in Storybrooke, Main. That's what you're going with?"

"It's true!" He pleads. His eyes are so wide and they hold the innocence of the world and he just wants her to understand, but she can't.

"Why doesn't everyone just leave?" She asks. She shouldn't be playing into his delusion.

"They can't, if they try, bad things happen." He explains ominously.

"Henry!" A man cries out. Henry turns away from her and she looks up at the man who is walking his Dalmation across the street. "What are you doing here?" He asks as he heads twaord them. He uses an umbrella as a walking stick.

"I'm fine, Archie." Henry smiles and pets the dog who sniffs at Emma, interested.

"Who's this?" Archie asks, looking at Emma.

"Someone trying to give him a ride home." She answers.

"She's my mom, Archie." Henry explains happily.

"Oh," Archie doesn't seem convinced, or happy to see the woman. "I see."

"You know where he lives?" Emma asks.

"Oh yeah, right up on Mifflin Street, the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block." He points with his umbrella, his dog shuffles uneasily.

"You're the Mayor's kid?" She looks down at Henry who refuses to look up from the spon on the ground he is suddenly very interested in. _Unbelievable. _

"Uh, maybe." He answers.

"Where were you today, Henry, you missed your session?" Archie asks and the boy turns up his face to him.

"I forgot to tell you, I went on a field trip." He smiles, crossing his arms. Emma frowns. _Lie_. Archie frowns too, kneeling in front of him.

"Henry, what did I tell you about lying?" He asks. "Giving into one's dark side never accomplishes anything."

"Oooookay," Emma stars, _was everyone crazy in this town_? "I really should be getting him home." She says. Archie nods and stands up.

"Yeah, sure, well listen, have a good night, and be good Henry." He says. Emma smiles at him as he walks away. Her face turns serious as she moves to the boy.

"So, that's your shrink?" She asks.

"I'm not crazy." He argues. _Right, not crazy_.

"Didn't say that, just, he doesn't seem cursed to me. Maybe he's just trying to help you."

"He's the one who needs help, because he doesn't know."

"That he's a fairy tale character?" Emma probes, still not believing.

"None of them do, they don't remember who they are." He starts heading back to the passenger side of the car. Emma wants to scream.

"Convenient. Alright, I'll play, who's he supposed to be?" She opens her door.

"Jimminy Cricket." He asnwers.

"Right, the lying thing, I thought your nose grew a little bit." She gets into the car.

"I'm not Pinocchio." He grumbles.

"Of course not, because that would be ridiculous." Emma agrees slamming the door shut.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

"Please don't take me back there." Henry pleads as Emma pushes open the wrought-iron gate and heads up the walk.

"I have to, I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." She says.

"I don't have parents, just a mom, and she's evil." He replies desperately. Emma rounds on him.

"Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"She is, she doesn't love me, she only pretends to." Emma looks down at him sadly. She doesn't even know what its like for someone to _pretend_ to love her.

"Kid," she bends down so that she is at eye level with him, "I'm sure that's not true." The door to the mansion opens and a woman runs out. She wears a grey dress and has short black hair.

"Henry!" Her voice is relief and home and safety. "Henry." She is on the verge of tears, and so happy to see her son. Her heels click across the stones of her walkway as she runs up to her child and wraps her arms around him. Emma snaps up and her wrist burns.

"Are you okay?" The woman asks turning Henry to face her. Emma is too caught up in her wrist. _Fuck, that hurts, no one said it would hurt_. The numbers were all zeros and her eyes widen as she looks back up to the woman.

"Where have you been?" She asks her son and glances at Emma briefly, not really seeing her.

"I found my _real_ mom." Henry yells and runs past the woman. His voice is so thick with anger and hate that it makes Emma's heart pinch for this other woman. This woman who is her soul mate. She turns and looks at Emma, devastation is evident on her features and Emma doesn't know what to say. _The thousands and thousands of times she had imagined this moment, none of the scenarios looked like this._ The woman curses as the pain in her wrist tears through her arm. She brings it up to look at and sees the zeros burn into her skin. Her eyes flick up to Emma's face with new emotion in them. Hope.

"You're Henry's birthmother?" She asks, disbelieving.

"Hi." Emma is hopeful. This may not have been what she imagined since she was a child and she learned what the numbers on her wrist that counted down with each second, hour, day, year that passed meant.

28Y 0M 0D 8H 45S has been clocking down since the second she was born, and now the numbers have finally stopped. _Finally_. Emma continues to give the woman a hopeful smile. The brunette looks Emma up and down, she barely hears the Sheriff behind her as he explains he is going to check on Henry.

"How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?" She asks with a small smile.

"Got anything stronger?"

**I'm going to let you guys decide whether or not this story follows along with Once Upon a Time's plot arch, or if you want this to be a completely different AU and nonmagical. So vote in the reviews. Is Henry right? Or are they just delusions?**


	2. Chapter 2

**According to the reviews, the majority of people chose the AU. However, the way I am currently writing this story it is still open to interpretation. To the guest who mentioned their issues, I guess you'll just have to wait and see how things turn out ;) **

Emma stands in the daunting and totally huge house of the Mayor of a town and she doesn't even know the woman's _name_. She is her soulmate and Emma's heart is in her throat and beating so hard she can hear it in her ears. The brunette pushes her way out of the kitchen, two glasses in hand and makes her way over to the liquor cabinet.

"How did he find me?" Emma asks as the woman put ice cubes into the glasses.

"No idea, when I adopted him he was only three weeks old," Emma can't stop staring at the other woman; she is beautiful from head to toe. "Records were sealed; I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact." She says as she pours the cider into the glasses.

"You were told right." Emma shuffles. _She didn't want this boy, this kid in her life, she just wanted to finally meet her soul mate and start her happiness._

"And the father?"

"There was one." Emma answers.

"Do I need to be worried about him?" The brunette turns to face her a bit.

"Nope, doesn't even know." Emma swallows hard; this isn't a conversation she thought she'd ever have with her soul mate.

"Do I need to be worried about you, Miss?"

"Emma, Emma Swan." She supplies.

"Miss Swan?" The woman's voice is like a balm over her name.

"Not even a little."

"I'm sorry he dragged you out of your life." She says as she handed over a tumbler to Emma. "I really don't know what's gotten into him."

"Well, I mean, I guess he's dragged me where I'm supposed to be." Emma gives her a tiny hopeful smile as she leads her across the way into her study.

"I don't quite understand, you're not under the presumption that you will be staying here, are you?" She sneers as she closes the door with a quiet click.

"I – uh," Emma stares.

"Rest assured, Miss Swan, you can head back to wherever it was my son found you and you will never have to worry about him again."

"Look lady, I'm not saying this is what I wanted or how things should have gone for us to meet, but now that I know you're my soul mate, I'm not going to just leave. I don't even know your name." She grumbles.

"It's Regina." She says with a sigh so soft Emma thinks she can fall asleep in it, the woman sits across from her.

"_Regina_." Emma feels as if her heart kick-starts. _What a beautiful name._

"You staying here will only feed into Henry's delusions." Regina says regretfully. She sits prim and proper and Emma can see how hard it is for her to always put Henry first.

"Maybe I can help." Emma sets her glass, _and her resolve_, on the table, stands up and walks over to Regina.

"I know you can feel the connection, I can sense it, maybe the way we met isn't what they portray in movies, some dramatic glance across a crowded room, but hell, they never described the pain either. We can make this work, and I'll help you with Henry, as much as you want me to. Possibly telling him that we're soul mates will help with his delusions." Emma smiles expectantly. Regina looks up at her with wide brown eyes and she nods carefully. Emma can feel her weariness; she can feel the exhaustion of having to deal with Henry alone, at least now there is someone else to experience it.

"So, why don't you talk, and I'll listen, and if you're feeling really motivated, I'll give you my opinion afterwards." Emma sits directly beside Regina and the brunette doesn't move over. Their knees touch but Regina can't keep her eyes from Emma's green ones.

"I don't know you, how am I to know I can trust you?" Regina asks seriously. Emma hesitates and holds up her wrist.

"By default I will never consciously hurt you. As far as trusting me, I guess you'll just have to give me a chance." She answers. Regina looks at her own wrist and scratches idly at the zeros on her wrist. She has wondered who would have been her soul mate since she was a child. She has watched days and hours of her life pass by. Now, looking at the woman beside her, she doesn't see any reason to doubt her.

Okay, but first, I'm going to check on Henry, you'll be here when I get back?" Regina stands and walks to the door.

"I will." Emma assures. Regina closes the door behind her on the way out and Emma stands up and crosses the study to the fireplace. On the mantle there is a series of photographs in ornate frames. Most of them are of Henry. Henry as a baby sleeping in a crib; Henry as a toddler standing in front of a huge Christmas tree clutching a stuffed bear twice his size with a grin on his face; Henry covered in cake and wearing a cowboy outfit on what appears to be his third birthday. There are a few pictures of Regina as well. Regina holding a toddler Henry on her hip as she stands behind a podium and gives a speech; Henry sitting on Regina's shoulders during a parade. Emma lifts the last photo from the mantle with a smile on her lips. Regina is mid-laugh and Henry has his tiny arms wound around her neck and his lips pressed hard against her cheek. They look so happy.

"He's about four in that photo." Emma jumps and spins around. Regina stands in the doorway, arms hugging herself as if she were holding herself together.

"He's cute." Emma comments. She doesn't know what to say about kids, this is not her area of expertise.

"He is." Regina agrees, closing the door behind her. Emma senses the pain that surrounds Regina in a cloud as she sits. She grabs her glass from the table and downs her cider.

"He absolutely loathes me." She slams the empty tumbler back on the table. "I've done nothing to earn this hatred." Emma crosses the room again, this time moving toward Regina, wanting to comfort her in some way.

"He doesn't hate you. He hates this idea he's created of you. He thinks you just pretend to love him." Emma explains. "Let's start from the beginning," Emma places a hand on Regina's knee, "when did he first show signs of these delusions?" She asks. Regina sighs.

"That stupid book put the idea in his head. He sees everyone in the town in it but the pictures are so nondescript, they don't even have faces. His psychologist, Archie, says that he's projecting identities onto the pictures, so to him, they actually are stories about us," she pauses  
>"I've tried to be here for him, I don't put in overtime, I'm at every school play and recital, he gets home cooked meals every night, I love him with everything I have but he still looks at me with disgust in his eyes and he still calls me evil."<p>

"Where did he get the book?" Emma asks, curious as to how the boy got a fairy tale book as old and worn out as it was. As the Mayor's kid, he could probably get anything he wanted in pristine condition.

"His teacher, Mary-Margaret, gave it to him." She nearly hisses, her voice is thick with anger, pure hatred seems to echo to Emma.

"I take it you don't like this woman?" Emma gives her a side-smirk.

"She's the reason my best friend's life was ripped apart." The brunette responds. "She is a home-wrecker and Henry thinks she's Snow-fucking-White and David is her Prince Charming, so it's all justified." Regina curses. Emma's eyes widen as she processes the information.

"Wow." She utters.

"Yeah, are you ready to leave yet?" The corners of Regina's lips lift in a small smile, one that seems too heavy for her to hold as it falls quickly into another frown.

"Not quite yet." Emma says. She had so many expectations of her soulmate and Regina doesn't meet a single one of them but, as is true with all soulmates, she feels drawn to the woman in a way that she would never be able to describe. When she was a child she was under the impression that when she met her soul mate she would fall in love instantaneously. As she grew up she realized that soul mates were connected but that never meant they loved each other. This point was driven home by her career, countless people who left their soul mates in the dust and seemingly forget completely about them. She doesn't understand it. She may not love Regina, _yet_, but she knows she doesn't want to hurt the woman sitting across from her. She wants only good things for Regina.

Regina once read a poem that stated that soul mates were complete opposites because they were two parts of a whole; over the centuries many studies have been conducted to determine whether or not soulmates we're equally divided or different, and there has never been a conclusive answer. Looking at Emma as the blonde listens to her talk about her son, Regina can sense how opposite the woman is from her.

"It's late." Regina says suddenly. "I have several guest rooms; you're welcome to stay in one of them."

"That's alright, I would hate to impose, I saw a Bed and Breakfast not too far from here, I'll just spend the night there, we can talk more tomorrow; I'll give you my phone number?" Emma says. Regina sits up straighter, it dawning on her that she doesn't know the woman, connection or not, Emma is still a stranger and inviting her to spend the night in a guest room is a huge lapse in judgment she cannot afford to make, not with Henry's incorrigible condition.

"Alright, tell Granny that I'll pay for your room, it is the least I can do seeing as how it is my son's fault that you are here in the first place." Regina stands up and so does Emma.

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that, it's fine." Emma responds.

"Don't argue with me on this, Miss Swan, I will not be swayed." Regina smiles, it's a politician smile and Emma smirks.

"Call me Emma, I'm your trusted confidant, you owe it to me to call me by my name."

"Emma." The Mayor says, and her voice is far too sultry to imply anything other than pure sex. Emma hesitates and Regina laughs.

"Interesting."

"Are you like this with all your children's birthmothers?" Emma jokes as she heads out of the study. Regina picks up their empty glasses and follows her out.

"Only the one my timer stops for." She answers.

"That's good to know." They're at the door and Emma knows she has to leave but she really doesn't want to. She doesn't want to stay at a bed and breakfast, she doesn't want to drive back to Boston, she doesn't want to go back to her life where she hunts down sleaze bags and liars. She wants to stay with Regina in her huge house and protect her from the little boy sleeping upstairs. She sighs.

"Here," she pulls a business card out of her jacket pocket and a pen out of the other, "this is my cell, call me anytime you need to talk." She hands over the business card. Regina flips over the cardstock.

"You're a bail bondswoman?" She asks. Emma nods.

"Yeah, is there anyone you need to track down? I'm really good at finding people." She says. Regina nods to herself.

"Apparently so is my son." She's sad again and Emma regrets it. "Good night, Emma." She appears strong and stoic but Emma can _feel_ the pain underneath. The fear that Henry would never truly feel like he was her son, that he would always search for his birth mother, the horror of that mother taking him away from her because he was such a wonderful and charming little boy that anyone would want him.

"Hey, the kid is right upstairs in his bed, sleeping and dreaming of sugar plums or whatever it is little boys dream of, he'll be right there when you wake up in the morning and he'll drink all of your juice. I'm not taking him anywhere." Emma assures.

"How did -" Regina hesitates and looks at her wrist. "Right. Thank you, Emma, but I think you've done all you can tonight. I'll call you tomorrow after I pick Henry up from school."

"Sounds great." Emma smiles. She feels so light inside and she's never felt this way before, she's always had a weight on her shoulders that made her want to curl up and sleep for a year. Something is different now.

"Good night, Regina." She says before the brunette closes the door behind her. She walks back down the stone path that just an hour and a half ago brought her to her soul mate and she gets into her beat up Volkswagen bug. It isn't a long drive by any means to the Bed and Breakfast and when she walks in the door she is greeted by an elderly woman.

"Mayor Mills called and said you'd be coming in, and I am to insist that your stay at Granny's B&B is completely on her." The woman, who Emma can only assume is _the _ Granny, says. "It's not like she can't afford it dear, so don't try and argue, when that woman's got her sight set on something she gets it, how do you think she became Mayor? The youngest this town has ever seen." Granny is very chatty and Emma doesn't get the chance to utter a word until they are standing at one of the room's doors.

"Here you are, Emma, enjoy your stay, there is complementary breakfast from 7 am to 9 am, but if you want it hot I suggest you be an early riser." She winks and Emma thanks her before the woman walks back down the hall. Emma unlocks the door and pushes it open to reveal a quaint room. She enters the room and kicks the door shut behind her, not bothering to lock it, this town seems straight out of the 50's where you can trust anyone, besides it's not like she has anything to steal. She peels off her red leather jacket, boots and jeans. She's left in a tank top and red underwear and that's fine by her, she usually sleeps in less. It doesn't take her nearly as long as she thinks it should to fall asleep, the bed is comfortable, the blanket is homemade and the pillow is filled with down. She's asleep in minutes.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

It is only like, 6 in the fucking morning, and she swears to God, whatever it is can wait. But then her phone starts to ring again so whoever is on the other side is one persistent person and she grabs her phone from the nightstand.  
>"What?" She is usually nicer, but pleasantries are ignored by Emma Swan until (at least) 9 am.<p>

"Emma Swan?" The voice on the other side is wrought with worry and Emma instantly feels as if ice water were poured over her.

"Regina? What's going on?" She asks.

"Henry has run away," it sounds as if she is crying, "again."

"Okay, do you have any idea where he would go, the sun's not even up yet, Christ, kid." She groans and jumps out of bed. She yanks on yesterday's jeans, slams her feet into her boots and grabs her jacket as she hurries out the door.

"No, I don't," she's crying.

"Regina, listen to me, we're gonna find him, let's go to his school, maybe he went there. You said his teacher gave him that book, maybe he's going to her to ask her questions." The line is silent for a few seconds before,

"Okay, I'll pick you up from Granny's, are you ready?"

"Yeah, it's not like I have to pack or anything."

"Okay." She hangs up and Emma walks down the stairs and she can smell the breakfast being cooked and she's so hungry because she hasn't eaten since like _lunch_ yesterday but food will have to wait. She throws the room key and a twenty on the check-in desk and decides to wait for Regina outside. She doesn't know why Henry would go to school at 6 in the morning but she hopes that's where he is, mostly for Regina's sake rather than finding him. Regina's car pulls up and in seconds she is sitting on the heated leather seats watching the streetlights pass them. The town is seriously _tiny_ because they reach the school in five minutes, _maybe_ eight. Now it's 6:45 and the lights in the school are on, Regina doesn't even turn the car off, she just parks it and throws the door open. Emma takes the keys out of the ignition and hurries after her. _Damn, Regina is fast, and in heels._ By the time Emma catches up with her, Regina has already cornered a woman, who can only be assumed to be Mary-Margaret.

"Ms. Mills, what are you doing here?" The petite woman asks in a timid voice.

"Where's my son?"

"I would assume he should be with you, school hasn't started yet." She answers.

"Do you think I'd be here if he was?" Regina is no-nonsense and Emma stands awkwardly behind her watching the scene unfold.

"Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?" Her attention snaps to Regina as the Mayor points her out. Mary-Margaret glances over at Emma, brows furrowed.

"I'm sorry who are you?" She asks. Emma's arms are folded across her chest, _what is going on_, and she doesn't know what to say.

"I'm," She hesitates, "I'm his -" _What is she?_

"The woman who gave him up for adoption." Regina supplies, and this is not the Regina she met last night, the concerned woman with caring eyes and a soothing voice who teeters on an edge because of her son. This is a Mayor, a politician who wants answers, a woman who does not extend kindness to home-wreckers. Emma is surprised how cold Regina sounds. Mary-Margaret looks back and forth between Emma and Regina as if she knows there is something deeper going on but she doesn't say anything as she slides the strap of her purse from her shoulder.

"You don't know anything about this do you?" Emma asks.

"No, unfortunately not." She answers opening her wallet, it is, as expected, empty. "Clever boy. I should have never given him that book."

"That's for damn sure." Regina's voice rises louder and Mary-Margaret wants to calm her down, to keep her from making a scene.

"It was just some old stories, I didn't know it would do this. As you well know, Henry is a special boy, so smart, so creative. And as you might be aware _lonely_. He needed it." Emma stares at Mary-Margaret.

"What he needs is a dose of reality." Regina answers. _He sure does_. "This is a waste of time." Regina turns around slamming a pile of books with her purse. Her fear has left her and she has only anger towards the teacher who she blames for her son's demise. Regina and Emma make eye contact and something inside her feels Regina telling her to _do something_. Emma watches her walk out of the room.

"Regina's just really worried about her son." Emma explains as if it will help as she starts to pick up the books.

"It's okay, I feel this is partially my fault." Mary-Margaret bends down and starts to pick up the books as well.

"How's the book supposed to help?"

"What do you think stories are for? These stories, the classics, there's a reason we all know them, they're a way for us to deal with the world. Henry hasn't had the easiest life." They leave the classroom and start heading down the hallway.

"I don't know, it seems like he's got it pretty good." _Far better than she ever had, that's for sure._

"He's like any adopted child, he wrestles with that most basic question, they all inevitably face, why would anyone give me away?" Emma inhales, _man, this woman really knew where to hit her where it hurt_. Mary-Margaret pauses, horrified, just realizing what she said.

"I am so sorry. I'm _so_ sorry, I didn't mean in any way to judge you." The woman rushes. It stings Emma a little, but not in the way Mary-Margaret is implying, but she plays it up. _She has to know something_.

"It's okay." She says showing off her puppy dog eyes and hoping she's portraying that she cares at least a _little_ bit about Henry.

"Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have," Emma aims her sad eyes at Mary-Margaret questioningly, "hope." The pixie cut sporting woman answers the unasked question.

"Believing in the very possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing." She says. _They're all crazy. No wonder Henry thinks she's Snow White._

"You know where he is?" She keeps the accusation out of her voice; she's trying to play _worried-and-regretful-birth-mother._

"You might want to check his castle." Mary-Margaret leans forward as if this is a secret. Emma thanks her and leaves the school, the sun has started to come up and Regina stands outside of her car, waiting for her.

"What did you find out?" She asks immediately.

"What does she mean when she says to check his castle?" They get in the car.

"The park, it's very run down and I keep telling him not to go there but he's determined to rebel against me in any way he can." Regina sighs. She doesn't know what to do anymore.

"I have an idea, swing by Granny's." Emma instructs. Regina looks over her before starting her car. _What did she have to lose_?

**Just a quick end note, don't read too much into Emma's indifference/distaste toward Henry. Just realize she had thought he was gone forever and she would never get him back. It's been less than a day. She needs some time to process things. **

**PLEASE Review, your words are really and truly what drive me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I am dreadfully sorry for the lateness of this update, but goodness, finals really kicked my ass. Studying to be a nurse is _hard_. But here is chapter three for all of you lovelies and I hope you all did well on your finals (for those of you in school) and I hope you get a good night's sleep and don't stay up to read this chapter, because sleep is good and I know I ignore it far too much to read fanfiction. **

Regina drops her off far enough away from the park that her car cannot be seen. _Not that the boy is looking._ Henry stares straight forward as Emma climbs up onto the rickety wooden castle. It has seen its share of years and the salty air has done nothing to preserve it. Emma's afraid she's going to fall clear through the 2x4 planks.

"You left this in my car." She tells Henry as she holds out his book and sits beside him. He doesn't move to take it from her and he doesn't say anything. She frowns and flips open the book. The words on the page tell a story of a young woman ripping the heart out of her father to enact some sort of curse. _This must be the Evil Queen_. She glances at the next page where the characters are drawn out. She squints her eyes thinking that maybe the faceless drawing will look somewhat akin to Regina, but it fails to do so and she slams the book shut. Henry jumps, startled. He looks at Emma with indifferent eyes. Yesterday she was his savior, today he looks at her as if she is cursed herself and there is no hope for her. He turns and goes back to staring straight ahead. She looks at what he is watching.

"Still hasn't moved, huh?" She asks, there is a view of the clock tower, it is small, but she can see that it is still at 8:15.

"I was hoping that when I brought you back, things would change here." He says. She sighs wishing she could say something, _anything_, to get him to understand. "That the final battle would begin."

"I'm not fighting any battles, kid." She says. He needs to get it through his thick skull that she isn't any Savior, that she's not a knight in shining armor and none of the fairy tales are real.

"Yes you are," she turns to him, "you're here because it's your destiny, you're going to bring back the happy endings." _She can't argue with him on destiny seeing on how her soul mate is sitting a hundred yards away in a Mercedes Benz_.

"Can you cut it with the book crap?" She is seriously annoyed with his delusions; she wants him to stop expecting so much from her and stop being so hard on his mother.

"You don't have to be hostile, I know you like me. I can tell." He smiles, "you're just pushing me away because I make you feel guilty." Emma looks at Henry sadly. _Maybe that's what it is, but it doesn't matter. She's not here for him. She was never supposed to see him again; she didn't even hold him as a baby. She gave up every right she had to him before he had a name. _

"It's okay, I know why you gave me away." He says. "You wanted to give me my best chance." Emma turns away. She can't look at this boy anymore, this kid she gave up ten years ago when she was just a teenager, handcuffed to a hospital bed. She had nothing. What does she have now? _Nothing_.

"How do you know that?" She is awestruck, this boy figured out what it took her years to understand. He is a child and here he is telling her that it is okay that she didn't have the means to care for him, that he gets that she wanted what was best for him. She still wants that. _God, she is getting all sappy_.

"It's the same reason Snow White gave you away." He answers, thinking maybe this time she'll see. Emma wants to scream. Why couldn't he just give her a normal answer, why did he have to be all about fairy tales and _Snow White_.

"Listen to me kid, I am not in any book. I'm a real person, and I'm no savior, you were right about one thing though, I wanted you to have your best chance. But it's not with me. It's with Regina, your mom, she loves you so much and she is absolutely what is best for you. Come on, let's go." She jumps down from the castle.

"Please don't take me back there; just stay with me for one week, that's all I ask, one week and you'll see I'm not crazy." He follows after her, and his voice is so distraught, he wants her so badly to just _understand_.

"I have to get you back to your mom." She wants to cry. This is all too much and nothing was supposed to happen this way.

"You don't know what it's like with her, my life sucks!" He shouts. She rounds on him.

"You wanna know what sucking is?" Emma asks angrily. He takes everything he has for granted. He needs to be more appreciative. _Regina loves him so much and would do anything for the kid, Emma never had that in any of the foster homes she lived in, she never had someone who wanted her the way Regina wants Henry._ "Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway, my parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital. I ended up in the foster system and I had a family until I was three but then they had their own kid and they sent me back," They're both crying now and Emma cannot stop talking. "You're mom loves you so much and you treat her like shit, she's not an Evil Queen, she's a caring and loving woman and you need to treat her with more respect." She hesitates because Henry is crying pretty hard by now and she sniffles and leans down wiping at his tears. "Look, kid, she is trying her best, I know it's hard and I know sometimes you think she doesn't love you but at least she wants you."

"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of the freeway!" Henry says. _Damn, she thought they were having a moment._ "That's just where you came through."

"What?" Emma is thrown completely off-guard.

"The wardrobe." He answers, as if it is the most obvious thing in the world, "when you went through the wardrobe you appeared in the street, your parents were trying to save you from the curse." He insists. Emma smiles at him, because what else is she going to do in this moment?

"Sure they were." She says with a gentle laugh. "Come on, Henry, your mom is waiting and you have to get to school." She straightens and starts walking away. He follows after her and falls in step beside her, seconds later, Emma feels his hand slip into hers. _That's new._

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

After Henry is safely bucked in the car, with Emma in the passenger seat, Regina starts talking.

"Henry, how would you like if Emma could come back here next week for dinner?" She asks. Emma is surprised, both because Regina doesn't mention Henry running away and that she is inviting her to dinner. The boy in the back seat perks up and when Emma turns around to look at him he is grinning from ear to ear, all thoughts of curses and Evil Queens have left him.

"Can she!?" He is nearly vibrating in his seat. Regina smiles at him through the rearview mirror.

"You'll have to ask her dear."

"Emma! Do you wanna have dinner with us next week?" He asks pulling at his seatbelt until he's nearly sitting on the center console.

"Henry sit back." Regina instructs and he does as he's told without question or a single pout.

"I don't know, kid, what day?" She smirks.

"Mom, what day can she come back?" He asks.

"Friday or Saturday around six." Regina says. His head snaps to Emma and she nods her head.

"Yeah, Friday will work for me." She answers.

By the time Regina parks across the street from Henry's school and lets him out, he is still buzzing with excitement. He waves enthusiastically, Emma gives a single wave and Regina smiles at him.

"I suppose it is time for you to return to Boston and get back to your life." Regina puts the car in drive and starts heading toward Granny's Bed and Breakfast where Emma's car sits waiting for her patiently. Emma nods her head in agreement. She usually takes a few days off after catching someone on the run, just to give herself some time to relax, but now she feels as if she needs an entire month to process everything that has come about in her life. After coming to the conclusion that Storybrooke is regretfully small when Regina pulls up beside her car not even ten minutes after leaving the school she unbuckles her seatbelt.

"I'll see you on Friday?" Regina asks, she seems somewhat fearful that if Emma leaves she won't come back. And maybe she's hopeful she won't come back, _just a little bit_. Emma smiles at her.

"Yeah, definitely, I wouldn't want to disappoint the kid." She smirks. Regina laughs.

"Of course," she agrees, looking at her hands resting on the steering wheel. Emma reaches over and her fingertips graze the back of Regina's hand.

"Hey, I know you're worried about Henry," she says his name like she has no right to it, "I think this will be good for him." _What does she know_? "Give this a chance." She pleads. She acts like this will change Henry, like _she_ will help him, but everything that the kid said to her before she brought him to the car would beg to differ.

"And if it doesn't help?" Regina's eyes snap to Emma's and they stare at each other for a moment in silence.

"Then we try something else." Emma answers. She opens the car door and steps out, the air is chilly in the early morning and she tugs her jacket tighter. She bids Regina goodbye and with a small wave of her hand she turns and heads to her car.

"Emma!" When she looks back Regina is standing outside of her car, wedged between the door and she has a hand reaching out as if trying to bring the blonde back.

"I – I'll," there is a hesitation that Regina is wholly unaccustomed to, and she swallows hard and starts over. "Would you still be open to me calling you after I pick up Henry from school this evening?" She asks. Emma smiles widely.

"I'd be offended if you didn't." She replies. Regina chuckles.

"Well I wouldn't want to do that." They are both aware that they are dragging out the goodbye and Emma opens the door of her Volkswagen bug.

"Let the kid know I said that he needs to be good for you." She says as she sits in her car. "Bye Regina." She closes the door, and Regina watches, frozen with her hand resting on the top of her car, as Emma drives away. She feels empty as the car disappears around the corner.

"How _charming_." Regina's head snaps to the direction of the voice and she narrows her eyes at the man.

"Mr. Gold." She greets cordially. He leans heavily on his cane in hand and straightens his tie with the other.

"What a lovely soul mate, Dearie." He smiles and it holds no happiness or pride. It is lecherous and dark. Regina's memories of the man limping over to her are mostly of him helping her mother, Cora, when she had been Mayor. She couldn't even remember a time when Mr. Gold had a soul mate himself. Her eyes drift to his wrist but, as always, he wears a long sleeved suit jacket and his wrists are hidden from prying eyes.

"It's a shame you don't know who she is." He says, and his words, though true, hold a secret meaning that Regina lacks the time to decipher.

"Mr. Gold, you are cryptic as ever, but as Mayor, I do not have the time to unravel riddles with you." She gets in her car and when she looks up again he is limping away.

When she arrives at her office her skittish secretary, Louisa, jumps up and fawns over her.

"Mayor Mills, I was _so _worried about you, you've never been late without calling before." She's holding a stack of manila folders in her hands and Regina snatches them away from her with a curt, "yes, well, sometimes things come up, and calling you to allay your anxieties is the least of my problems," and slams the door to her office behind her. Louisa bites her lip to keep the tears at bay, _working for Ms. Mills was a nightmare on occasion_.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

Emma uses the drive back to Boston to think. She takes her time and allows her mind to sway from one thought to another. She's knows she's going to get into her apartment, kick off her boots and drop her jacket on its usual place on the arm rest of a loveseat. She's going to box up her cupcake from yesterday and throw it away, and she's going to dump out the remaining juice the kid didn't manage to suck down his gullet the night before. She's going to turn on her favorite song and clean her apartment and open all the curtains to let in the bright sunlight that is currently shining over Maine.

Emma winds her fingers tighter around the steering wheel. Her car feels empty without the presence of a ten year old boy who won't stop talking for an entire four hour drive. The small space is closing in on her and she finds it hard to breathe. She rolls the window down and lets the crisp air awaken her nerves. Her mind feels like mush because of all the things she has to process, she has met her soul mate, her son (that she expected to never see) sought her out, _her son is crazy_. Her hands squeeze the steering wheel hard. She doesn't want to believe that he is crazy. He's coping, he's a child, he needs support. _He's crazy_. She grits her teeth and wills her mind to stop spinning.

_Regina_. Her mind singles in on one thought, and the name grows bigger and bigger until it's filling her brain and she is the only thing she can think about. The woman is amazing; more than anything Emma could have expected. She is beautiful and smart and powerful and passionate. She seems to love so completely and without limits that Emma cannot imagine what it's like to be on the receiving end. She swallows hard and bites her lip, _she can't imagine being on the receiving end of anybody's love_. Emma parks her car in the parking garage for her apartment building and just sits in the car listening to the dying song on her radio. She pulls out her phone and looks at the screen, a stock picture that came with the phone is her background and the time reads 12:37. She's exhausted. She scrolls through her recent calls and clicks on Regina's number and adds her into her contact list.

She can feel that her life is changing and she sits back in her car, and smiles.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

They go on with their lives. Emma picks up another case; Regina files city ordinances and organizes charity events; and Henry, for his part, doesn't say a single thing about Evil Queens or curses, or Snow White all week, he still doesn't do his homework without some persuading, but that's normal in the Mills' household. Regina calls Emma every other day after she picks up Henry from school and starts dinner, and Emma listens to her talk about town drunks and the library being closed and her not understanding why. _Apparently, Mr. Gold has the deed in his hand and something about a toxic environment. _Emma's not too sure on the details. On the nights that Regina doesn't call, Emma stays at her office after everyone else has gone home, unable to bear returning to her empty apartment where her walls echo Henry's words at her.

_I'm your son._ She's nobody's mother; she gave up that right ten years ago and she doesn't deserve him.

_You wanted to give me my best chance_. God, he is so smart, such an intelligent and charismatic little boy and that is all Regina's doing and nothing from her.

_Please, don't take me back there_. How many times had she asked that of her social workers? Too many times to count, but this is different, wasn't it?

_She's evil_. She can't be evil; it isn't possible, she cares so passionately for Henry, and she loves him so much. There is a feeling deep in her gut that reminds her of when she stood behind Regina as she interrogated Mary-Margaret. _The woman who gave him up for adoption_. Regina's voice echoes in her head. Is that all she is? No, of course not, Regina was scared, she is a Mayor with a reputation to uphold, there is nothing more to it. Emma slams her laptop closed and stands up from her desk. She is startled when her phone's ringtone blares in the otherwise silent room. Her heart hammers in her chest when she sees the caller I.D. _It's the wrong night._

"Hello?"

"Good evening, Miss Swan." It's almost a joke by now and Emma plays along every time.

"_Regina_." She says with a warning in her tone and Regina laughs. It is smooth and warm and Emma wants to wrap herself in it.

"I am sorry to call you so late, _Emma_," Regina says her name and it sounds like home, "but it occurred to me that tomorrow you'll be on your way here by the time I normally call, and I am just making sure that you are indeed still coming here for dinner, I would hate to be presumptuous and – "

"I'm still coming." Emma assures; Regina tends to go on tangents that threaten to never end when she feels uncomfortable and whenever she is unsure of something she is _very_ uncomfortable. There is a sigh of relief that makes Emma smile.

"Good. I'll be making lasagna, is that alright?"

"Oh, hell yeah, I love lasagna." Emma fist pumps. Regina laughs again and Emma swears she could never get enough of that sound.

"I'll see you tomorrow, and Emma?"

"Yes?"

"Watch your language around Henry. He idolizes you enough to replicate whatever you say." Regina says, _overprotective mother mode activated_.

"Will do." Emma promises.

"Good night, _Miss Swan_." Regina says.

"Good night, Ms. Mills." Emma spills back with a laugh on her lips. She pockets her phone and starts to pack up and go back to her apartment, a place that will never be _home_.

**Please review! I am so excited to be writing this, and I've finally decided the direction I want to go with this, lets see if you all can guess if it's going to be magical or nonmagic as the chapters progress! **


	4. Chapter 4

**I'll be spending the holidays with family, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update, so here is a chapter before I go. **

They say that the drive to your destination seems much longer than the drive back home. Emma has to believe this because driving to Storybrooke, Maine feels like it takes twice as long as it took to drive back to Boston. When she finally reaches the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign a peace spreads through her that is different than the first time she crossed the town line. There is hope under her fingertips and she feels the electric current of pure excitement which hasn't happened to her in a long time.

When she parks in front of the Mayor's mansion and looks up at the large house, she wonders if it feels like a home to Regina and Henry.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

"Emma's here!" Henry bellows seconds after he opens the door for her. She laughs and ruffles his hair in greeting.

"There's no need to yell, dear." Regina scolds lightly as she comes out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.

"I was just letting you know."

"I'm pretty sure the whole block knows now, kid." Emma says.

"Go wash up, dinner is just about ready," Regina instructs, "you too, Miss Swan." She smirks.

"Yes, Ma'am." Emma says as she follows dutifully behind Henry to the sink.

She finds the whole evening off to a domesticated start as she helps the kid set the dining room table with expensive plates and silverware and Regina brings out a glass dish filled with enough lasagna to feed ten people.

"What would you like to drink with your meal? We have water, milk, wine and Henry always has apple juice." Regina smiles at her son as he enters the living room holding a glass filled to the brim with juice. "Not so full next time." She suggests and he nods his head obligingly.

"Wine would be nice." Emma answers. "As long as it's red, I hate white wine." She adds as Regina walks out of the room and the woman's chuckle floats back and she smiles.

"I think you're changing her." Emma's smile slips instantly and she turns to face Henry.

"What?"

"I think you're changing the Evil Queen." He reiterates. Emma wants to groan; instead, she leans forward and claps her hands together on the table, feigning interest.

"How so?"

"She's happy, and nice, and she started reading me bed time stories again." He answers. At this Emma smiles, it's soft and simple and she's happy.

"I think that's you kid, you've finally let her act like the mom she is. Keep it up, maybe the Evil Queen will disappear completely." She tells him. He picks up his fork and pokes the tines at the center of his plate.

"I brought you here to break the curse, not to save the Evil Queen." His voice is laced with confusion and Emma can tell his need to talk through his feelings so she stays silent. "She doesn't deserve to be saved, or happy," another pause, this time he looks up at Emma and his eyes are pleading with her.

"Why not? Everyone deserves a second chance, everyone deserves," she can't believe she's going to say it, "a happy ending." _Internal groan_.

"Maybe." Henry says.

"You're in luck." Regina's voice startles her, and Emma can tell that she's heard the conversation because it's thick with an emotion she cannot decipher. "I have red wine." She holds up a bottle and Emma is quick to raise her glass to be filled.

"How was your day at school today, Henry?" Regina asks as she sets the wine bottle in the middle of the table and moves over to his side so she can serve him his food.

"It was fine." He grumbles. Emma kicks him under the table.

"Elaborate, I want to know what you do in whatever grade it is that you're in." She says.

"I'm in fourth grade," He says as if she should know. Regina looks gratefully at Emma over the kid's head and places a square of lasagna on Henry's plate. "And today we started fractions, and I don't like them, they're hard."

"I sucked at math." Emma says, cutting herself her own square of lasagna. Regina purses her lips but decides that 'sucked' isn't too bad a word.

"Really?" Henry lights up.

"Oh yeah, I was really bad at it, what about you, Mayor Mills," Emma draws attention to the brunette as she fills her own plate, "how did you do?"

"I had a predilection for math, I was quite good at it." She answers. Emma screws up her face and turns to Henry.

"Your mom is a _nerd_." She whispers loudly to Henry and the boy laughs. Regina rolls her eyes playfully and smiles at Emma.

"Yes, well without all the hard work I put into school, I wouldn't be Mayor and you," she looks pointedly at Henry, "would not have all your comic books." He looks devastated.

"Man, am I happy that you were a nerd." He laughs and so do Emma and Regina. It feels nice. They eat dinner and Henry tells Emma all about how he won second place in Storybrooke Academy's Annual Spelling Bee while Regina smiles proudly at him and Emma can't help but think that is she is so very grateful that Regina adopted him and he has had such a wonderful and enriching life. Henry finishes his meal long before Emma and Regina and when he asks to be excused Regina lets him go with a smile on her face. He bounds from the room without another word.

"Thank you," Regina says after a moment of silence and Emma glances up at her, "for what you said earlier, to Henry." She clarifies. Emma leans forward and reaches across the table to touch Regina's hand, it is an intimate gesture for both of them, neither is accustomed to physical touch.

"He's a good kid, I think he's just confused right now."

"I'm hoping you're right and this, you and me, will be good for him." Her smile is small, hopeful and the marker of someone who does not trust easily. After a moment that cannot be described as awkward nor can it be determined comfortable; Regina clears her throat and Emma sits back in her chair.

"Would you mind checking on him, and reminding him that he has to be in bed by nine tonight?" Regina stands and starts gathering empty dishes and silverware. Emma grabs the glasses and follows her into the kitchen.

"Sure, where's his room?" She asks.

"Up the stairs, the first door to the right." Regina answers taking the glasses from her. Emma leaves the kitchen and makes her way up the stairs. The house is daunting, too big for a mother and her son to live in alone. It is a house that feels like it should be filled with laughter and family Christmases and instead Emma gets the impression that the empty spaces are occupied with the sounds of slamming doors and Henry's misplaced hatred. Her hand trails over the smooth oak railing and her footsteps are soft on the wooden steps. There are photos on the wall beside the staircase; again, mostly of Henry when he was young, as if when he reached a certain age he refused to be photographed. The first door to the right of the landing is slightly ajar and the silence unnerves her, _aren't children supposed to be loud_? She pushes open the door and pokes her head in, Henry is sitting at his desk bent over his story book and Emma bites back a groan.

"Hey kid." She says. He turns away from his book and he has a huge grin on his face.

"Hey Emma!" He greets brightly. She enters his room further, sees that he is drawing on a piece of paper and looks over his shoulder. The picture causes her breath to hitch in her throat. It's her, it has to be, even in the drawing of a ten year old she can tell that it's her. It's a messy stick figure with blonde hair and a red jacket and blue jeans with knee high boots and his little figure is holding her figure's hand and it's so cute she wants to puke.

"That's nice." Her voice sounds thick to her ears, as if she's talking through molasses. He looks up at her and the crayon he holds in his hand slips from it and rolls off his desk. Emma watches as it slides across the floor and hits the toe of her boot.

"Why are you crying?" Henry asks. Her eyes snap to him and she wipes at her cheeks, _ashamed_.

"No one has ever drawn a picture of me before." She says. He looks at the picture and then back at her. Suddenly, he jumps down from the chair, gathers up the paper and he's in front of her in seconds.

"Here, you can have this one; I'll draw another one to add to the book." He says proudly extending his arms. Emma takes it gingerly in her hand as if her fingertips would sully his artwork.

"Thank you." She says, blinks a few tears away and clears her throat. "You're mom says to be ready for bed by nine, kiddo." She tells him. He looks at the clock resting on his bedside table, it reads 8:41.

"Will you tuck me in?" He wonders, "Both of you?" He adds.

"Sure thing, you get ready, I'm going to go help your mom with cleaning up." Emma hesitates, unsure of what to do, turns and leaves the room. She folds the drawing carefully and pushes it into her pocket. When she reaches the foot of the stairs she can hear a soft humming coming from the dining room, Regina is humming and it sounds like a lullaby she's heard long ago. She goes into the room and Regina is blowing out the candles on the table and waving the smoke away.

"Thank you for dinner tonight, it was delicious." Emma acknowledges, Regina looks up at her with a smile on her cherry red lips. _Emma wonders just what she tastes li-_

"You're welcome dear, I've packed you some leftovers that you can take back to Boston with you." She replies.

"Awesome." She grins, now she'll have a good dinner for a couple nights instead of Chinese takeout. "Oh, Henry wants us to tuck him in together." She says. Regina stiffens slightly, and only for a second, but Emma catches it and feels like she's intruding.

"I don't have to." She insists. Regina shakes her head.

"Nonsense," her smile is fake, forced and too much teeth, "it could be very nice." It's all wrong. Emma wants to rewind, back out of the house before she causes any more strife between mother and son.

"I don't want to impose."

"You never do." Her voice is biting, bitter, and Emma can feel the Mayor's wall come up.

"I am here for _you,_ Regina, as long as _you_ want me here. If you don't want me to go up there with you and intrude on your nightly routine, I won't. I will leave your house right now, and you can tell him I just couldn't do it." Regina stares at her for a moment, trying to decipher the feelings spinning through her head and Emma notices the moment her face softens.

"No, no, it's truly alright, you can tuck him in. I just read him a book, sometimes he asks for an original story, you wouldn't be intruding. You've been invited." Regina swipes the rag she's holding once more over the table and folds it neatly before putting it on the kitchen counter. The stove clock blinks 8:54 and she brushes her hands together.

"Well, up we go, he should be ready by now."

Henry's room is spotless when they enter it. His desk chair is pushed in and the story book is covered with a neat stack of papers and a box of crayons. He is in his bed with the blankets pulled up to his chest and he sits waiting eagerly.

"Teeth brushed?" Regina asks as she sits gingerly on the edge of his bed. Emma stands in the doorway awkwardly. Henry hums and blows in her face before bursting into laughter.

"Minty fresh." Regina comments with a smile.

"Come on, Emma! You can sit on this side!" He waves her into the room. She moves around the bed and sits heavily on his other side.

"What story would you like tonight?" Regina asks. Henry settles in comfortably between the women, thinking.

"The one about the prince!" He exclaims. Regina smiles and brushes his hair back gently.

"Very well, Once Upon a Time, there was a little prince by the name of – "

"Henry!" He bursts out and Regina laughs.

"Yes, Henry, and he was a very handsome little prince…" _Emma leans against the headboard of Henry's bed and listens to Regina spin a majestic tale about knights and princes and dragons. Henry falls asleep halfway through but she finishes the story while stroking his hair. Love pours from her eyes as she looks down at her little prince and Emma feels a sense of belonging even if she doesn't truly belong._

They stand from the bed carefully, not wanting to wake the sleeping boy, but when Regina flicks out the light they hear a groggy "goodnight, Emma, goodnight, Mom, I love you" and Regina's breath hitches and she's frozen in the doorway and Emma just smiles at her because she's sure it's been a long time since she's heard those three words.

-Time flies like an Arrow-

"So, you'll come back next Friday?" Regina asks as she hands Emma a Tupperware container filled to the brim with lasagna. Emma nods.

"Yeah, of course." Their hands brush and Emma's heart speeds up. _She just wants to try something_.

"This was nice," Regina says, "it's been a long time since things have felt so real," she continues, "and you – " Emma stops her in her tracks, lips pressed together, leftovers sandwiched between them, one arm wound around her back and the other clutching the Tupperware to her stomach. Electric sizzles and ignites a fire in them. Regina moans, and it's quiet and soft and completely Regina. She isn't letting go and maybe now isn't the time, standing in the foyer, directly down the stairs from Henry's room, but Emma desires nothing more than to hear the Mayor come undone. She steps back and the brunette is staring at her with wide brown eyes.

"I had a wonderful time tonight; I'll look forward to seeing you again. Maybe next time you and I can go out, _alone_." She suggests. "Goodnight, Regina." Emma opens the door and walks out into the chilly night air.

"Goodnight, Emma." Regina says softly and closes the door.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

Across town, Mr. Gold sits at a desk in his pawn shop under the dim light of lamp as he sticks a needle into his wrist. He hisses as he pulls the plunger back and the syringe fills with a silver colored fluid, the same color as the numbers counting down. He moves quickly and squeezes the liquid into a glass bottle. He stoppers the bottle and shakes it slightly, bringing it up to his eyes he watches it constantly swirl and move as if liquid smoke.

_She's not dead_.

The clock tower might not have started moving, but the dead timers of the town's inhabitants suddenly came back to life when Emma entered Storybrooke.

Mr. Gold smiles.

"Finally."

**The next chapter will explore the town of Storybrooke and its inhabitants a bit more. What characters would you like to see? **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry I took SO long to write this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

It is a quiet Monday at Granny's Diner. The breakfast rush has been dealt with and the chronic caffeine users have come, got their fix, and gone. Ruby is left leaning over the counter pretending to wipe away nonexistent crumbs, should Granny come down and check on her. The bell over the door rings and Ruby straightens.

"Ms. Mills, isn't it a little early for your lunch?" Regina purses her lips and her heels click across the linoleum floor as she moves to the counter.

"I actually came her to ask a favor of you," she begins, clutching the strap of her purse against her shoulder.

"A favor?"

"Yes, I have some business to attend to out of town, and I was hoping you could pick Henry up from school today and babysit him until I return. I will pay you for the entire time I am gone." Ruby stands for a moment in silence as she thinks it over.

"Sure, I'll do it, Henry's a good kid." She smiles.

"He sure is." Regina agrees. She looks over the waitress. Ruby is beautiful and she seems to know this if her outfits are any indication. Regina doesn't approve of the revealing way Ruby dresses but she is the best person to babysit Henry when necessary. Ruby clears her throat, _is the Mayor checking her out_?

"Yes, well, thank you, you are aware of when school lets out?" Regina moves the strap of her purse again uneasily. Ruby gives a swift nod and moves away from the counter as Granny comes into the room.

"Even as Mayor, I have to ask you to refrain from distracting my servers when they are on shift." She says to Regina.

"My business with Miss Lucas is finished, she will no longer be distracted." Regina says. Granny laughs, a single barking burst of air and she glances at Ruby.

"Ruby is always distracted. Next time order something and give her work to do." Regina smiles and Ruby rolls her eyes.

"Thank you again, Miss Lucas, I should be back tonight, if I intend to stay the night I will call you and let you know."

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

Henry sits at the counter and every now and then Ruby will look over at him as he does his homework but she's not too worried about him. Like she said earlier, he's a good kid. She turns back to the coffee machine and watches it finish filling the pot. The bell over the door rings, _a sound Ruby hears in her dreams, and she doesn't look up_.

"Hi, Ms. Blanchard!" Henry greets brightly. Ruby still doesn't turn around, Mary-Margaret is a harmless fourth grade teacher and she can be trusted with Henry.

"Oh, hello, Henry." Her voice is guarded, careful. Henry laughs.

"My mom's not here, she went to Boston to go see my other mom." Ruby listens, fascinated, town gossip is her bread and butter and nothing is better than gossip about the Mayor.

"Oh?" Mary-Margaret prompt.

"But don't worry about Emma, I'm pretty sure she's helping my mom. Although," he pauses, sounding deep in thought, "I'm not sure if its okay for her to do that?"

"Hey waitress, where's my coffee?" A gruff voice sounds behind Ruby. She grumbles, grabs the pot from the coffee maker and faces the town drunk.

"Leroy, you know my name." She says as she refills his mug,for the third time, and looks around to see if anyone needs coffee. _Sometimes she's good at her job...sometimes_.

"Too early for names, Little Red." _He's called her that for as long as she can remember_.

"Right." She smirks and moves back to Henry and his teacher.

"You do understand there is no possibility of Emma being my daughter, Henry, we've got to be about the same age." Ruby, as an expert in pretending to be productive when she's not, wipes off a spotless table and leans into Henry and Mary-Margaret's conversation.

"Time is frozen here." Henry says exasperated, _Snow White should know this_.

"Ah." Mary-Margaret doesn't sound convinced, she's not even playing along as she usually does. _Regina got to her_. Ruby feels bad for the woman; she's hated by the Mayor and that's an awful place to be. Henry is oblivious to his teacher's indifference. He continues to scribble on his math homework.

"Order up!" The cook calls; Ruby goes back behind the counter and grabs the white to-go bag and hands it over to Mary-Margaret.

"Here' you go, everything as you like it." Ruby promises. She smiles and takes it.

"Thanks, Rubes." She slips from the barstool and looks at Henry like she's ruined his life somehow.

"_You have got to be kidding me_!" Ruby's head snaps up at the sound of Kathryn Nolan's voice.

"She is everywhere we go. This town is too damn small." The blonde glares angrily at Mary-Margaret and the already skittish woman ducks her head in shame. Ruby understands why Kathryn is upset. _Everyone_ knows about Mary-Margaret and David's romantic rendezvous and it is completely humiliating to Kathryn. Rumor has it that the Mayor spray-painted the word TRAMP on Mary-Margaret's car. _It's only a rumor of course_.

"I'm sorry, Kathryn, I -"

"Don't talk to me, I have _nothing_ to say to you!" Kathryn hisses. "Let's go, David." She backs out of the diner with her husband following behind her.

"Don't worry, Ms. Blanchard, he's your true love, you're meant to be together." Henry reassures.

"Henry!" Ruby walks over to him, "that is completely inappropriate, what would your mother think if she heard you say that?" She scolds.

"But, Ms. Blanchard,"

"No, Henry, Ruby is right, what I did was very wrong. Of course, I wasn't the only one in the relationship, that takes two, but I'm getting away from the point."She is starting to sound bitter. She's squeezing the to-go bag in her hands and closing her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I should get going." She says, "I'll see you in a few days, Ruby, if I come back to this diner. See you tomorrow in school Henry, get all your homework done." She instructs somberly and walks out. Ruby faces Henry and folds the rag in her hand.

"You ready to go home, kiddo?" She asks. He nods, slams his book closed and hops down from the barstool.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

"Ruby?" They're holding hands as they cross the street; she's seen Regina do this with him a thousand times and figures she should do the same. His hand is small and soft and warm. She glances down at him.

"Yes, Henry?" She says.

"Do you like my mom?" He asks.

"The Mayor?" Ruby wonders.

"Yeah, her." His voice is bitter but not as bad as its been. She's heard it much worse.

"Yeah, I think she's pretty great. She's got to act all harsh because she's the Mayor, but she seems to genuinely care about the town and you." Ruby answers. Henry looks around and glances back to his babysitter.

"I think she likes my other mom," he says, "like, likes." He adds as clarification.

"Really?" Ruby is interested. This is the best gossip she's heard since Ashley got pregnant. _The Mayor likes chicks_?_ That's interesting_.

"Yeah, she's never left town, so Emma is probably important to her."

"Emma." Ruby repeats the name, _it sounds familiar to her. She knows everyone in town and there is not a single person named Emma_.

"She's really cool." Henry spills emphatically. Ruby and Henry pass David and Kathryn who are arguing in hushed whispers as they make their way down the sidewalk. Henry's head swivels as he watches them go.

"We can't go anywhere without running into her. I don't want to see her every time I go out. I don't want you being around her because you have proven that you can not be trusted with her. I want to leave Storybrooke, David." Kathryn's voice is hard, it holds none of the love that David is used to and she sounds miserable. He doesn't say anything until they are behind the closed door of their house.

"What are we doing?" He asks. Kathryn clutches a paper bag of food from the deli down the street and her fingers tighten around it.

"What do you mean, David, _what are we doing_?" Instantly she is angry and her voice is through the roof. She is so tired of trying to maintain a facade of being put together and under control. "_I'm_ trying to salvage our relationship that _you_ threw away." She enters the kitchen and slams the subs down on the counter. "I'm trying to make people stop looking at me like I'm broken and falling apart and I'm ruined." She's nearly crying now. "What are _you_ doing, David, you're pretending it never happened, like, you didn't completely fuck everything up!" David stands in the foyer clenching and unclenching his fists, _he can't be mad at her, she's right of course and he deserves her anger, and he hates himself because he still can't stop thinking about Her_.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

Mary-Margaret stares at the white take out bag that sits heavily in her wire trash bin across from her sofa. She can't eat. She can't even think of eating because her mind is spinning around and around about David and Kathryn and Regina and the whole town of Storybrooke and how every single person hates her. _Except maybe Henry and Ruby_. This seems to be the first major scandle in the history of the town; the only one that even comes close is when everyone discovered that Ashely was pregnant. That girl was shunned, _still is_. Mary-Margaret falls back on the sofa.

"I should just go." _Just leave_. She sighs and with the air that leaves her lungs every single worry rips through her throat and she starts to sob. She doesn't have much that ties her to Storybrooke, a nice job, _that doesn't pay enough_, and a few friends, _three of them haven't talked to her since it came up_ and a comfortable apartment, _that Mr. Gold raises the rent on every few months_. Pretty soon she's not going to be able to afford it on her teacher salary.

What kind of life can you have when the Mayor of your town hates you? She doesn't know what to do and she's feeling absolutely helpless. She stands from the couch, walks over to the kitchen and opens a cabinet over by the fridge.

"Ah, ha." She grabs the tall glass bottle of Absolute Vodka and kicks the cabinet door shut. For some reason her mind is caught up on two people and one of them shouldn't even be thought about.

"Regina." _The Mayor, why can't she stop thinking about that woman_? Regina has only ever treated her with disdain, even before the whole stealing someone's husband thing, but now it's a full fledged hatred. Mary Margaret fully expected Regina to pull Henry out of her class, and was completely surprised when he continued showing up in his assigned seat. Sometimes, she's happy she is the cause of all the trouble between Henry and his mother if only for a miniscule pay-back she gets for how Regina has treated her over the years.

She sighs, Henry idolizes her and she knows it, _and she hates it_. She is nothing to be idolized. She is something to be hated, and that's why she is. She opens the bottle of vodka and sucks back a few gulps until her throat burns. She gasps and falls back onto her sofa again. She wants to hit somebody. _Regina_. She's not even mad at David, _how can she be_? She leans back and drinks more.

She should just leave town and start over. Start somewhere new and have a whole new life. She stands, sucks down more alcohol and heads towards her bedroom.

"Mary Margaret," she tells herself, "you can do this." She slurs and sets the bottle on her dresser. She reaches under her bed and pulls out her suitcase. She starts hurriedly throwing clothing, shoes and books into the open bag. She stumbles back over to the dresser and picks up the vodka.

"Why is everyone so mad at me? Nobody cares about David!" she yells to nobody in particular, seeing as how her apartment is empty.

She turns around and looks in the mirror, her very short hair is disheveled and her shirt is twisted and wrinkled. She hurls the bottle across the room and it crashes into the wall and shatters, littering glass and alcohol all over the floor. Mary-Margaret screams and kneels on the ground, sobbing. She doesn't know how much longer she can deal with this.

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

Ruby has Henry fed, washed and ready for bed with time to spare and she is incredibly proud of herself for her first time babysitting. She just finished washing the dishes from their dinner when he walks into the kitchen clad in Spiderman pajamas and clutching his massive book to his tiny chest.

"Can you read me a bedtime story?" He asks quietly. He is almost always quiet and withdrawn and he keeps to himself. He's barely a child at all. Probably comes with the territory of being the Mayor's son. Ruby has seen him a dozen times at City Hall Meetings with his hands tucked politely in his lap and swinging his legs back and forth.

Ruby dries her hands on a towel and accepts the book from him.

"Sure, Henry." She agrees and follows him up to his room. Ruby watches as the boy hops up onto his bed and pulls the duvet up to his chin. She sits beside him and he eagerly opens the book in her lap.

"The story of Rose Red and the Wolf." She flips the page and Henry is nearly quaking with excitement. He really wants Ruby to read to him before he goes to sleep. _Like, it's probably a little weird how much this ten year old boy wants her to read him a book of fairytales_.

"Once Upon a Time, there was a girl who everyone called Red," _what a ridiculous name, _"and she lived in a small village with her Granny." Henry peers over the edge of the book and clutches at Ruby's arm. "There was a monster that plagued the town. A creature that devoured sheep and livestock by moonlight and terrorized the village. Everyone lived in fear. Red Rose was plagued by something far worse, she had to contend with an overprotective and crossbow-wielding grandmother who rarely let her out of her sight; and God forbid she be seen without her infamous red cape, Granny would be furious. Henry squeezes at Ruby's arm, his nails dig into her skin.

"Red Rose wanted so badly to be free, for she had fallen into what she believed was True Love with a young hunter from the village." _True Love? Fairy Tales are so annoying_. "Granny would never allow Red to go out at night due to fear of the Beast Attacks, but Red's new found friend, Snow White, promised to help her be with her True Love." Henry smiles up at Ruby.

"And then, after a night when the hunter came to Red's window the Beast's prints were found outside her bedroom. They came to the only conclusion one could come to and decided the hunter must be turning into the beast. Rose Red and the hunter wanted to make sure it was true and so they chained him to a tree. But a horror would befall them before the night was through." _What the hell_?

"Henry, are you sure it's okay to read this before you go to sleep? You're not going to have nightmares?" Henry shakes his head furiously.

"No, please, keep reading!" He begs. She shrugs and flips the page.

"Alright, but if you wake up crying it's not my fault. Your mother would kill me." She goes back to the book.

"That night, upon discovering that Red was out of her room, and even worse, she left her cape behind, Granny and Snow White ran out to the field where the hunter had been tied to a tree snarling and growling next to the carcass of the dead hunter. Granny threw the red cape over it and in a few seconds Red was lying on the ground in its place. Red was back to normal and confused as to what had happened. She was horrified to find that she murdered her lover." Ruby flips the page back and forth.

"That's it?" She says confused.

"Yeah, do you remember?" He asks excitedly.

"Uh, no, I don't think I've ever heard this version before." Henry shakes his head and turns back a few pages until he reaches a picture of Red and Snow White.

"This is you," he points to Red. Ruby narrows her eyes.

"Uh, huh." She's disbelieving and rightfully so.

"No, really," he taps his finger on Red, "that's you, and," his finger slides to Snow White, "that's Miss Blanchard." He tells her. Ruby stands from the bed.

"Right, okay, Henry it's time for you to go to sleep." She pulls the book from his hands and sets it on his desk.

"No!" Henry snaps and stands up on his bed, bouncing from one foot to the other. Ruby is frozen, her hand gripping the back of the desk chair so hard her knuckles are white. She's never seen him like this.

"I'm not crazy!" He shouts.

"I'm not saying you are, Henry." Ruby attempts to pacify him.

"But you don't believe me!" He jumps down from his bed, "nobody believes me!" He runs out of the room. Ruby follows after him.

"Henry?" He's nowhere on the second floor so she heads down the stairs.

"Henry?" She calls, "where are you?" The downstairs is dark except the kitchen light she left on earlier. It's eerily quiet and Ruby is actually frightened.

"Kid?" _Maybe she should call Regina. No. Regina would kill her. Granny!_ She fishes into her pocket and pulls out her cell; Granny is speed dial number 1. She picks up after the third ring.

"Hello, Dear." Granny greets.

"I need help!" Ruby says instantly.

"With what?"

"I made Henry really upset and he ran off, I'm pretty sure he's still in the house. How do I get him to come out? What do I do?" She is getting more frantic as she goes on.

"First of all, calm down, both of you being worked up is not going to help." Granny advises, "secondly; talk to him in an even voice, go along with whatever he wants. Gain his trust."

"His trust," Ruby repeats, "alright, thanks Granny, I'll call you back if I need any more help."

"Good luck, Dear." Ruby pockets her phone and heads to the kitchen._ She just needs to play along, that's all_.

"Henry," _Even voice, check._ "I'm going to make some hot chocolate with cinnamon, just the way you like it. If you come out, you can have some, and we can talk all about the stories. I promise I'll listen to you." She explains as she searches through the cabinets to find the ingredients she needs.

She's nearly finished; just about to sprinkle cinnamon on top of the whipped cream when Henry shows up in the doorway.

"You'll really listen?" He asks, voice timid again. Not yelling, not frustrated. Hopeful. She picks up the mug.

"I will." She holds it out to him. _A peace offering. _He steps forward tentatively, carefully. And Ruby is just as careful, she's afraid anything could set him off again. So, she gives him the mug and he wraps both hands around it and brings it to his face. He inhales and smiles at her. She smiles back.

"Thanks, Ruby." She nods her head once.

"Come on, let's go sit in the dining room and talk." The two walk into the other room and Ruby flicks off the kitchen light. Henry climbs onto the chair and sits with his legs tucked underneath him. His hands are still wrapped around the mug and he watches as Ruby gets comfortable in the seat across from him.

"So, tell me about these stories." She prompts. He licks the whipped cream off the top.

"They're not stories." He says, as if he's telling her the truth of the world. "These are all true, my mom cursed everyone to this land." Ruby tries very hard to keep a straight face. "These are your lives forreal." He insists and sips at his hot chocolate. Ruby nods. _Gain his trust_.

"So, I was Red Riding Hood?" Ruby asks.

"Not was, you_ are_ Rose Red." Henry explains.

"I don't feel very much like her, I'm just me." Ruby says. "I'm a waitress at a Diner and I still live with my grandmother." She sighs.

"Rose Red lives with Granny, so do you!" Henry smiles and Ruby nods again, not knowing what else to do.

"Tell me about everyone else, you said Mary-Margaret is Snow White?"

"Oh yeah!" He exclaims, "You see it all started with…"

-Time Flies like an Arrow-

Regina unlocks the front door and steps into the entry way. It's dark and quiet and she yawns. She should've just stayed at Emma's apartment, but she was afraid of leaving Henry all night. She peels off her peacoat and kicks off her heels. She walks into the living room as she digs through her purse. She pulls out her phone and stops at the couch, Henry and Ruby are asleep on the sofa, and Henry is clutching his book to his chest. Regina wants to be angry.

She can't find it in herself, she's too happy from her day with Emma. She sends a quick text to Emma telling her she got home safely and takes the book from Henry. She sets it on the coffee table and pulls the blanket from the back of the couch and covers them both up. She leans down and kisses Henry's head.

"I love you, Henry." She whispers and heads upstairs.


End file.
